bike won't start

[tigerstyle102]

I haven't rode it for about 3 days because of the rain, so it's been just sitting there in the rain and wind. I go out to ride it today and it won't start. The weird thing was there was this yellowish/white powder covering the bike. It was caked in to all the crevises and electrical wires. I have no idea what it is. It is even inside the exhaust. I took off my slip on and looked inside the header, it is covering the inside wall. I do0n't know what this powder is or where it came from. It has no odor.

Anyway, the bike won't start. I turn the key on, lights come on as normal. i put the choke all the way on. I flip the kill switch to run. hit the starter and nothing happens. Absolutely nothing. No clicking sound like the battery is dead, nothing. I'm thinking it's some kind of electrical problem.

[Puunjob]

I would check to make sure the powder didn't get into the pos/neg battery connection

Also might want to hook the battery up to a trickle charger it is always good to start trying to trouble shoot electirical problems witha known good battery

Good Luck

[miket]

I haven't rode it for about 3 days because of the rain, so it's been just sitting there in the rain and wind. I go out to ride it today and it won't start. The weird thing was there was this yellowish/white powder covering the bike. It was caked in to all the crevises and electrical wires. I have no idea what it is. It is even inside the exhaust. I took off my slip on and looked inside the header, it is covering the inside wall. I do0n't know what this powder is or where it came from. It has no odor.

Pollen from trees. Yes, it does get everywhere.

Anyway, the bike won't start. I turn the key on, lights come on as normal. i put the choke all the way on. I flip the kill switch to run. hit the starter and nothing happens. Absolutely nothing. No clicking sound like the battery is dead, nothing. I'm thinking it's some kind of electrical problem.

Did you try bump-starting it?
You can check
1. Battery voltage. If below 12V, recharge. Heck, recharge in any case.
2. Kill switch. Make sure it's on.
3. Sidestand safety switch.
4. Clutch safety switch.

If it's none of these, come back and Kerry will help you better ( Kerry    )

[jiggersplat]

hey... how about me... mine won't crank either.  just finished reassembling the whole bike.  put oil in.  hooked battery up to charger, turned the key and nothing.  i've checked basically every switch and relay that has to do with the started and they all seem to be working.  kill switch is in run position.  sidestand is up.  transmission is in neutral, clutch lever is in.  i push the start button and nothing.  could it be my battery is so dead, that even when hooked to a charger it won't crank?  also, i checked the lead that goes into the starter relay that comes from the clutch switch, and it doesn't go hot.  ever, of course, i pulled the switch off the clutch lever and checked it there and it looks like it's working.  ideas?

thanks,
dan

[Kerry]

Dan (jiggersplat), are you getting any lights?  If not, is your ground wire hooked up right?



EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net.

[jiggersplat]

yeah, lights come on.  i checked that all the switches were passing 12v.  checked the fuse and it's okay.  i even jumpered the starter relay to see if was going crazy and it sparked and cranked, so i know power is on the hot side of the relay.  i think the problem is somewhere between the clutch switch and the starter relay because when i jam a meter in there, it doesn't go hot when i press the starter button like i think it should.  i tried to jumpstart it off a running car too.  no difference, so i'm 99% sure it's not the battery.  engine ground is hooked up, and okay.  sidestand relay clicks like it should.  neutral light comes on like it should.  i opened the starter button/kill switch box and verified that those switches are working.  i dunno.  i'm stumped.  i'm about to pull the headlight bucket apart and see if something happened with the wiring in there.

dan

[jiggersplat]

well, i was right.  i pulled off the headlight bucket (of course one of the screws was stripped so i had to dremel a slot in it), and sure enough the clutch switch wire was disconnected.  connected it, and it fired right up.

dan

[tigerstyle102]

Well I went out and looked at the bike again today. I checked the fuse, its good. I opened up the headlight, check all the connections in there to see if any of them were loose. They're all good and tight. I didn't check for continuity though, because I don't have a ohmmeter. When I turn the key on, the neutral light comes on but the headlight does not. The turn signals don't come on. And the break light won't come on when I pell the lever or push the pedal.

Where do I go from here? Get an Ohmmeter?

[tigerstyle102]

Okay, I bought this thing called an electrical tester. It was only $2. It checks voltage from 5-50V AC/DC. Is this all I need or do I need an ohmmeter or multimeter? I'm pretty much lost in all this electrical stuff so any explaining will have to be in idiot terms.

[Kerry]

When I turn the key on, the neutral light comes on but the headlight does not. The turn signals don't come on. And the break light won't come on when I pell the lever or push the pedal.

You never said whether you charged the battery, or otherwise know it to be in good shape.  The bulb for the Neutral light requires a LOT less current than the headlight (or even the turn or brake signals) so your symptoms could still be explained by a nearly-dead battery.

Is there any way you can hook a set of jumper cables between your battery and a car battery?  If you do that and the headlight STILL won't come on, that's when you start with the electrical testing.  But until you know that power is being applied to the wiring harness, no amount of continuity-to-ground testing will tell you anything.

[tigerstyle102]

I haven't charged the battery yet. It should be good, I just replaced it about 9 months ago. I will try to hook it up to a car tomorrow to see if the headlight comes on.

[Kerry]

Okay, I bought this thing called an electrical tester. It was only $2. It checks voltage from 5-50V AC/DC. Is this all I need or do I need an ohmmeter or multimeter?

If this device is what I think, it is strictly a continuity tester.  You can use it to determine how much of a given circuit is good, one segment at a time, until you find the "break".

To make sure the tester is working, touch one lead to the positive battery terminal, and the other to a good "ground" point.  (A bolt attached to the frame, or an unpainted spot on the frame itself is always good.)  The tester should light up, because the "ground" is connected fairly directly to the negative battery terminal.

From here on out the trick is knowing what you want to test.  After you identify a circuit that you want to check, you can either work toward the positive battery terminal or away from it.

Let's say that your horn isn't working.  You don't know whether the problem is a bad switch, a broken wire, a bad connection, or the horn itself.  (We're assuming a good battery, remember?)  From the wiring diagram in my Haynes manual I can tell that the black wire to the horn eventually leads to the positive battery terminal.  Let's see if the circuit is good up to that point.

Pull the black wire from the connection point on the horn and touch one of your tester leads to the connector at the end of the wire.  Touch the other lead to a ground point.  The tester should light if the path to the positive battery terminal is unbroken.  There are two built-in "path breakers" in the circuit: the 20-amp fuse and the ignition switch.  If the fuse is good and the ignition switch is ON and the tester lights, then the circuit is good so far.

Plug the black wire back onto the horn and disconnect the black-blue wire.  Touch one lead to the metal tab that you just pulled the connector from, and the other lead to a ground point.  If the tester lights, then the horn itself is good.  (There is an unbroken path through the horn all the way to the positive battery terminal.)

Next stop: the horn switch.  Touch one tester lead where the black-blue wire connects to the horn switch, and the other to ground.  If the tester lights, Great!  (Move on by touching the non-ground tester lead to the spot where the black-white wire connects to the horn switch, and pressing the switch to test). If not, then you need to back up to the 8-wire connector that the black-blue wire passes through.  If you get continuity where the black-blue wire disappears into the connector on the horn and battery side, but not on the horn switch side, than there is a bad connection inside the connector.

Hopefully you get the idea.  Again, the trick is knowing what you want to test.  A wiring diagram can come in very handy in all of this.

I hope this has been helpful....  :dunno:

[jiggersplat]

uh... if the frame were connected fairly directly to the positive battery terminal, you would have what we call a "short".  i think you meant the negative battery terminal.

dan

[tigerstyle102]

Fixed it!

I took off the battery to charge it last night and let it charge overnight. This morning when I went to put it back on the bike, I noticed a black wire at the bottom of the battery box not connected to anything. I think it is a ground wire or something. I bolted it it down to the bolt on the botom of the battery box, installed the battery, and it fired up.

Thanks again guys.

[aslam]

I also have a problem that is perfectly described by this post.  The battery is good, fully trickle charged.  The bike will not start or even click when the sidestand is up, engine switch set to run, and clutch pulled in.

I am 99.99% sure that I have a problem with my clutch switch.

My clutch level was somewhat bent so I got a replacement lever and went to install it.  When pulling out the old lever, I noticed some resistance after the cable was removed and heard a slight pop or crack.  When I put the new lever in (properly adjusted) I was unable to start the bike.

I noticed afterward a piece of broken plastic in the crevase on the bottom of the original clutch lever.  Upon inspection I have noticed that there is some more broken plastic inside the clutch lever assembly (on the bike) from which two leads are protruding.

Does anyone know if I have broken some piece which operates the clutch switch on the handle, and if so how to fix?  I also saw two -tiny- screws on the bottom of the assembly for these two leads that would allow me to disconnect the assembly.  The two wires go from the clutch handle to the wiring harness inside the headlight which I can only assume is the clutch switch wiring.

Has anyone else replaced a clutch lever and had this problem?  What's the best way to work around it?

I was thinking maybe I could short the clutch switch so I wouldn't have to deal with pulling in the lever when starting the bike anyways...

:dunno:

ASLAM.

[Kerry]

uh... if the frame were connected fairly directly to the positive battery terminal, you would have what we call a "short".  i think you meant the negative battery terminal.

Huh?  I'd edit my post, but I can't find the problem....

[jiggersplat]

To make sure the tester is working, touch one lead to the positive battery terminal, and the other to a good "ground" point. (A bolt attached to the frame, or an unpainted spot on the frame itself is always good.) The tester should light up, because the "ground" is connected fairly directly to the negative battery terminal

you had me worried.  i thought i was going crazy for a second.